Oilfield service operations may be performed at or in proximity to a well bore at remote locations. These service operations can include, but are not limited to, logging the well bore and/or the lithology of the formations surrounding the well bore, inserting a well bore casing, cementing the well bore casing in the well bore, perforating the well bore casing, treatment of one or more reservoirs proximate the well bore, hydraulic fracturing of one or more reservoirs proximate the well bore, steam injection into one or more reservoirs proximate the well bore, and other servicing operations. Some service operations may be performed shortly after completing the initial drilling and casing of the well bore. Other service operations may be performed substantially later, as for example some well stimulation operations may be performed after a well has been producing oil and/or gas for a period of time and production from the well has slowed down enough to make the stimulation operation prudent to restore production volumes. Providing oilfield services may involve time sensitive control and coordination of skilled and unskilled personnel, vehicles, complicated tools and/or machinery, sensors, materials, and compositions of materials. Communication technologies play a central role in successful completion of oilfield service operations. As the complexity and sophistication of oilfield tools and technologies increase, the need for improved communication technologies for oilfield operations also increases.
Oil and gas wells are often remotely located, and telecommunications infrastructure may be limited in such remote locations. For example, wired access to a communications network, such as twisted pair subscriber lines and/or cable lines, may not be provided at these remote locations. Similarly, mobile or fixed cellular wireless access may not be provided at these remote locations. Additionally, in some developing countries where oilfield operations are conducted telecommunications infrastructure may be limited and/or unreliable. Some wireless local area network (WLAN) embodiments are known in the oilfield and provide advantages associated with avoiding the burden and hazards of wiring equipment together.
Satellite enabled communications can link remote locations to offices that are connected to public communications infrastructure. However, reliable, broadband wireless communication over an extended well site and among a plurality of well sites that may include transmitting high bit rate sensor data from sensors offset from the well bore by several hundreds or thousands of meters may not be satisfied by known WLAN and satellite communications solutions. Satellite communications may be subject to excessive latency or propagation delay associated with the distance a transmission travels across the several satellite links from transmitter to receiver. For example, to propagate real-time data from a first well site to a second well site in the oilfield may involve the data traversing a first up link from the first well site to the satellite, traversing a first down link from the satellite to an oilfield service company corporate office or regional office, traversing a second up link from the office to the satellite, and traversing a second down link from the satellite to the second well site—four one-way trips to/from a satellite positioned, for example, about 38,400 kilometers above the earth in geo-synchronous orbit. Satellite communication is subject to various reliability problems including rain fade (attenuation or failure of signal strength due to precipitation in one of the satellite link paths) and radio interference from solar flares. WLAN communications solutions may not support both the transmission rates and the distance requirements contemplated for present and future oilfield communications. Additionally, known WLAN and satellite communications solutions may not provide broadband wireless communications between separate well sites in a remote area, which may be advantageous to leverage the value of key personnel who may be able to consult with less skilled personnel on each of multiple well sites based on richly detailed real-time data wirelessly communicated to the location of the key personnel. Thus, an ongoing need exists for improved oilfield area network communication systems and methods of using same to service a wellbore.